Hotels have long been the focus for Ascent Hospitality President John Tampa, whose company owns 26 across the country, including two in downtown Montgomery and two more on the way, according to the Ascent website.

But Tampa's recent purchase of the downtown BBVA Compass building, a 14-story high rise and longtime former home of Union Bank, looks to be less about the property and more about the parking that comes with it.

Tampa purchased the BBVA Compass tower for $5.2 million and closed on the deal in late October, said Mark Dauber, a real estate broker who has worked with Tampa for approximately a decade.

Included in that deal is the BBVA parking deck, which Dauber said boasts six levels of parking and more than 250 spaces.

"The purchase was motivated as much as anything by the fact the building comes with a sizable parking deck. With all these hotels under construction across the street, he's going to have an enhanced need for parking," Dauber said.

Tampa currently owns the DoubleTree hotel and the Hampton Inn and Suites. He's working to open a Springhill Suites in the former Bishop-Parker building and he'll also convert the historic Murphy House, the former Montgomery Water Works building, into a boutique Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel complete with a rooftop bar.

Located across the street from the Hampton, diagonally from the Murphy House, a block away from the former Bishop-Parker warehouse, and two blocks from the DoubleTree, the newly acquired parking deck is advantageously positioned to handle traffic from any of Tampa's properties.

"The parking deck is not full so there is excess capacity right now. (Tampa's) got to try to anticipate future needs," Dauber said.

Dauber said BBVA's lease remains in effect, and the bank will continue to operate from the building, but he said there is potential for condominium development in the upper floors, pending market analysis.

"But we would only anticipate that involving the very top floors. It would still be an office building, at least partially," Dauber said.

Tampa purchased the building from Sooner Management, which according to its website also owns the 12-story Renasant Bank tower at 8 Commerce St.

The closing of the BBVA deal came just before the Montgomery City Council in November approved Tampa's latest downtown Montgomery purchase, a lot on the 400 block of North Perry Street that Tampa acquired for $900,000.

The city has high hopes for the property, which the city held onto for years while hoping to attract a mixed-use grocery store or retail space with residential space above. City officials said Tampa's proposed multi-story commercial building could fulfill that goal, while simultaneously pulling downtown northward toward the Warehouse District.

The contract also stipulates that the city must use $150,000 of the $900,000 sale price for streetscape improvements aimed at making the area more walkable.